Calendars!

[matataku_hoshi]

Hankyu just made an announcement about the release of the 2009 calendars, which will be on October 10th.  Along with the usual suspects, Kimu will have her own personal calendar this year.  She also makes it onto the star calendar along with the top stars and nibante.  This fact, along with a lot of other little things, only confirms my hunch that Hankyu is treating Kimu like a second nibante in yukigumi.

Kimu is on the short list of my list of favorite otokoyaku, but at the same time I hate the idea of Yumiko being passed up.  I'd like to see Yumiko get at least one show as top post-Mizu.

700 yen per personal calendar isn't bad.  Obviously I need the Kiriyan calendar, but finances depending I may need the Kimu and Touko ones too... *plots in an evil manner*

P.S. Based on the timing of the 2008 schedule release this time last year, I'm expecting an announcement about the 2009 schedule any day now.  As I've whined about before, yours truly doesn't have internet at home, meaning I can't stalk the internet every second of the day.  (I can get to Gmail and even Live Journal on my cell phone, but my phone's inability to display Japanese makes looking at the official page useless).  In any case, I expect one of you lot to e-mail me if any announcements are made :P

Comments

[kalen9.livejournal.com]

Do you want one of us to text you? You can enable that in your profile if you don't want to give out your number.
God knows I'm always awake, though you're more likely to be around for an early morning announcement with the time difference ;)

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I tend to panic and think that there's some kind of emergency if I get late night texts/phone calls, so just e-mail may be better. But thank you for the kind offer <3333

[kalen9.livejournal.com]

I sent your chirashi today, by the way. :) They said Friday.

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

Yay! I will eagerly watch my mail :D

[ohtori-tsuki.livejournal.com]

I adore Kimu, but I agree that it would be sad if they passed up Yumiko, who is wonderful in so many ways. I really want some of those calendars though. Do you know if there is any way to buy them while in the states?

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

Hmm...well, there is always Crescent Shop. Otherwise, would any of the Japanese bookchains offer them? I think some of them have international shipping.

(I'm a bit new to being an overseas fan, I'm afraid)

[kalen9.livejournal.com]

YesAsia usually carries them, don't they? And you can special-order through the Japanese chains if I recall correctly.

[caithion.livejournal.com]

I think some of them were available through amazon japan last year too, unless I'm remembering incorrectly...

[caithion.livejournal.com]

Suddenly I have this vision of Kimu as Kiriyan's nibante. It's... it's just bizarre. She seems the most likely suspect to get shuffled in, though, and the lack of an Ahi calendar seems telling....

Then again, Chie was nibante for a whole year before she got her own calendar, wasn't she?

[quinquin]

But isn't Kimu the only sanbante to get a calendar? The one missing from the Tsuki line-up isn't Ahi but the non existent Top Musumeyaku.

As for Chie, since she became nibante in the spring of 2007 that was probably too late to give her a calendar that year. On the other hand Sou didn't get one this year and look what happened there...

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think it probably had to do with the timing of Chie starting as nibante that she didn't get a calendar. I'm interested in seeing where things go with Kimu...

[caithion.livejournal.com]

I guess I don't really feel like any alarm bells should be going off. There have been other sanbante who have gotten calendars in the past, even if they're not getting them now. And I haven't felt like Yumiko is being *passed over* for anything. I think they're just taking advantage of the AQUA5 popularity and Kimu's popularity. She's graced the back cover of Graph for a long time as an ad girl -- I think she's just well known. As a 13-ken, they certainly haven't been rushing her as they have others. ;)

....I certainly feel like Hankyu had their plans for Chie in place a long time before that spring..... XD

[quinquin]

Oh, I was reacting more to your comment about Ahi than about Kimu. From what I've seen of Yumiko the last year she is doing very well and not exactly looking like she would be passed over by anyone.

What, plans for Chie, nah ... ;-)

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

*grins in an evil manner* I've been hoping for Kimu to be Kiriyan's nibante for a while now. I feel like she has the right energy for tsuki, and I love the idea of yet another future top star being a former Lucheni.

Poor Ahi isn't even being treated like a sanbante.

I'm wondering if we're going to see some transfer announcements with the 2009 schedule...

[caithion.livejournal.com]

I just... really can't see it. I guess I'm really not very familiar with Kimu, all things considered, but it seems like a very odd match to me.

I don't know about Ahi. I feel like there's certainly still time. How do you feel she's being mistreated?

I'm always excited for transfer announcements! Maybe soon, or maybe for next winter?

[sumirepanther.livejournal.com]

Here is a very interesting historical list of Takarazuka Star Calendar since 1997.
From this list you can tell that appearing sooner on the star calendar doesn't necessarily guarantee a faster lane to top.

No wonder about Kimu's getting favorable treatment. She is the Visa girl succeeding Osa. Visa has been the most influential sponsor of Takarazuka Revue and I'd dare say her future top position is endorsed.
That said,
I'd like to see Yumiko get at least one show as top post-Mizu.
I 100% agree.

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

I'm on my computer at work, which doesn't have the ability to display Japanese, but thanks for the link! I'll definitely look at it when I get home.

Didn't Kimu have some kind of a deal with Visa even before becoming their official image girl? I recall a lot of my older Graphs having Kimu on the back.

[caithion.livejournal.com]

She was the image girl for a make-up company for many, many years. :) Rika was their image girl before her.

[ladybretagne.livejournal.com]

It will definitely be interesting to see what happens with Kimu. Aqua5 and her Visa deal certainly muddy the waters a bit.

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

I think her role as the Visa image girl definitely shows that the company is favoring her. Then again, she has a truly wonderful smile <3

[kyanited.livejournal.com]

Don't forget that Kimu is also the VISA endorser.

Seeing how popular Yumiko is, I don't think they can afford to pass her up. She already gets senior nibante treatment, being trusted with a Theater Drama City show. (Which is, I'm being told, no small theater like Bow Hall.)

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Yumiko having at least a few shows as top. But I worry that she falls into the same pitfall as Yuuhi, who is very popular but is considered to not have the right "spark" of charisma for being a top star. I agree that Yumiko getting the Theater Drama City show is significant, but Yuuhi gets it this year and I think most people would agree that she's not on the top-star track.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like I'm putting down either Yuuhi or Yumiko. I like both of them a lot, but I'm not sure if the company sees them as top material. Honestly, I prefer either of them over, say, Tani, who has the right "spark" for being a top star but whom I don't like so much in other respects. (My apologies, Tani fans. Maybe I should top typing before I manage to offend everyone -_-;;)

Umeda Arts Theater and Theater Drama City are in the same building. I believe Umeda Arts Theater seats roughly 2000 people and Theater Drama City about 750. The latter number is still bigger than Bow Hall, which I think seats 500.

[kyanited.livejournal.com]

I will remain confident for both until I see them being passed up. :P

I also talked to Jas today and she said she has a gut feeling Yumiko may not make it, but she says it doesn't matter, as long as she is happy where she is. Jas' theory, however, seems to be that Yumiko and Kiriyan may not have the right influential "backing" that's needed to be ultimately successful. And she says there's been a scandalous TMS incident concerning the 80th class that led to them being allowed to graduate but not expect any big career in the company...

Oh wells. Like I said, I have no reason to believe they won't make it. And I think especially Yumiko, while she may not have had that spark in Hana, is working on it pretty hard, and she's truly started to shine.

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

Hmm...to be honest at this point I would be surprised if Kiriyan didn't make top. (And I'm saying that without my Kiriyan bias). Asako doesn't have all that many shows left in her (the show after Genji will be her seventh show) and I can't think of any other candidate at the moment who is as ready to be top as Kiriyan. Plus Kiriyan's already in tsuki.

As for the 80th class, it seems like if Kiriyan and Yumiko were allowed to graduate but not expect a big career with the company, than nither of them would have been pushed as hard as they have. Kiriyan getting the Haktaza show was a huge deal...that's a really big theater! Not to discredit Jas, but I tend to take stuff like that with a grain of salt simply because it can't be proven either way.

In regards to Yumiko, I saw Silver Rose Chronicle and thought that she had something there as well. I'd be open to the idea of Yumiko as top, I'm just not 100% sure the company is.

[kyanited.livejournal.com]

Not to discredit Jas, but I tend to take stuff like that with a grain of salt

I know, and I only said that to point out that there is speculation in other directions, too. I generally don't give much about speculation, because none of us mere mortals have any real base for an idea on what's going on beyond the obvious. In the end, someone was right, but more by guess than real insight.

The obvious difference between Kimu and the other sanbante is that she's a member of Aqua5 and the VISA face. I'll happily stick to that as the reason for her special treatment. :)


(And I think most people also doubted that Yuuhi would really be nibante after her move to Hana; and look, now she is, gets all the nibante treatment and the big feathers. *shrug* Who knows what sort of contract she managed to negotiate?)

[sumirepanther.livejournal.com]

but not expect any big career in the company...
One of the 80th class did have a big career - the Hanagumi top musumeyamu position. That's Sen Hosachi who paired with Maya Miki. Also on the star track from the class who did the shinko leads were Asazumi Kei and Kuon Maya, both of them retired. As far as I know the 80th class members have been treated no differently from others.